Dutchess home sales up, prices flat in July

Dutchess County's home sales market in July turned in the best single month in years but the volume boost did not break a long-term flatness in price.

The Mid-Hudson Multiple Listing Service said 190 single-family free-standing homes changed hands in July, which was up 6.1 percent from the same month a year earlier. But the year-to-date level remains down by 6.2 percent.

It was the highest one-month total since June of 2010.

The median price was $250,000, which was down 5.3 percent from year-ago levels, but right in the range of where it's been for the last three and a half years.

Average price was $303,951, down 15.5 percent from July 2013.

Sandy Tambone, executive officer of the Multiple Listing Service, which is where agents list homes for sale, said the number of homes on the market was growing and had a high not seen in recent history.

"Inventory was teeming at the beginning of the month with 2,141 units available, 11.7 percent above last year. The increase of more units hitting the marketplace is expected to continue."

That count was for July 1. For Aug. 1, it rose to 2,200. That level has not occurred since mid-2011, according to past reports from the listing service.

This surge could be due to a large number of short-sale homes lingering on the market, said Monica Whitney, broker at Exit Realty Connections in Wappingers Falls. Those are homes whose owners fell short on paying their mortgages, where the lenders will approve a sale for less than what they are owed.

"There are still a lot of them, and they're taking a long time to close," Whitney said. Activity has picked up a lot in the last two weeks, she said.

The market so far this year has "leveled out," said Steven Domber, who heads Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Hudson Valley Properties. Speaking to the Dutchess County Economic Development Corp. on Thursday, he said, "We've had a couple of false starts, but we haven't been able to sustain that." But neither has it gotten worse.

"It's leveled out," he said, with a median price around $250,000. "Transaction volume is going up and prices are stabilizing and not going down."

Sellers who try to "test the market" and get a high price eventually find it does not work, Domber said. "It's very dangerous in this market to approach pricing that way."

Market activity is good among young first-time homebuyers and commuters who work in markets south of Dutchess, he said. Even if IBM Corp. were to do more downsizing, "we'll be OK because of where we are," Domber said.

For attached homes, which are town homes, condos and co-ops, there were 33 sales in July, four more than a year ago, with a median price of $237,000, up 7.7 percent. But Tambone cautioned that this number may look high because of several high-end sales in the Town of Fishkill.